This is my first ever Skyrim fanfiction! Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment, I love comments.

WARNING - contains MAJOR spoilers for the Dark Brotherhood quest line as well as minor spoilers for Thieve's Guild quest line

Ever since that snowy day in Windhelm, her life had never been the same...

Mordelia overheard two guards saying strange things about some Aretino boy.

"Did you hear what the Aretino boy is doing?" One of the guards whispered.

"Yeah! Gives me the shivers to think of it." The other guard replied, actually shivering. Whether from the cold or from the Aretino boy, she wasn't sure.

As she approached, the guards ceased their conversation to glare at her. She was, after all, a Dunmer in a Nord city.

"Excuse me." Mordelia said innocently as she walked over, "I couldn't help but overhear. Maybe I could be of assistance?"

The two guards continued to glare at her in silence until she thought they hadn't heard her. Mordelia was about to repeat herself when one of the guards finally spoke.

"Maybe she could be of use." The first guard said. "There's no harm in trying."

The second guard softened his glare a bit. "Alright, you may try. All you have to do is go to that house over there" -he pointed to a large house spanning the road- "and convince the boy inside to go back to the Riften Orphanage."

"Simple." She said. What's so bad about an orphan? Poor kid.

The guards laughed and walked off.

"Good luck traveler." The first guard said over his shoulder.

Thoroughly confused at what could be so bad about the boy that the guards were making him leave, Mordelia walked over to the house and tried the door.

Locked.

Good thing I'm friends with the Khajiit caravans. Mordelia carefully picked the lock and went inside.

At first glance the house seemed vacant; cobwebs in the corners and dust coating any available surface. Then she saw a glow emanating from a doorway to her right.

Out of that doorway came not only light, but a sound. The sound of a child chanting;

Sweet Mother, Sweet Mother. Send your child unto me. For the sins of the unworthy must be baptized in blood and fear.

Shivering inwardly, Mordelia drew her blade and crept towards the doorway.

What greeted her eyes shocked her; sitting on the floor was a young boy. In front of him lay a skeleton, and a few other items, all surrounded by candles.

Mordelia let out a startled noise that caught the boys attention.

The boy turned around to face her, joy sparkling in his eyes. "You've come! It actually worked!" The boy stood up. "Now you can kill Grelod!" He gave Mordelia a questioning look. "You are the Dark Brotherhood, right?"

The Dark Brotherhood. Haven't I heard that name before? Mordelia sheathed her blade and decided to go along with the boy. After all, he's just a kid. How bad can this be.

"Yes, of course I am." She replied to the boy's question.

The boy smiled. "Good. I have a contract for you."

"Contract?" Oh, no. What have I gotten myself into.

"Yes. I need you to go to Riften and kill Grelod the Kind. She runs the Honorhall Orphanage."

"Why should I do this?" It probably wasn't proper for her to ask questions, but Mordelia needed to know why she was doing this.

"Because she is a horrible person. She always makes us orphans work. Everyone in Riften has taken to calling her Grelod the Kind out of fear she'll get mad at them. So will you accept the contract?"

Mordelia let the words sink in before giving her answer. "I accept."

"Oh thank you!" The boy clapped his hands in merriment.

Mordelia left the Aretino boy in his happy mood and decided to start for Riften immediately. It would take her at least a week to travel by horse to Riften, and she was on foot.

Before leaving Windhelm, Mordelia bought a few extra arrows and "borrowed" some jewels from a vendor. On her way to Riften, she would stop at Ivarstead and sell some of her "borrowed" items to a fence. Being a part-time thief had its advantages. She also wanted to stop in Ivarstead to see if the Khajiit caravan was around; she was running low on lockpicks.

After making a few hundred septims in Ivarstead, Mordelia made her way to Riften.